


you, in midnight blue

by irritable



Category: Uncharted (Video Games)
Genre: F/F, fluff stacked on more fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-10
Updated: 2018-02-10
Packaged: 2019-03-16 08:07:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,374
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13632186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/irritable/pseuds/irritable
Summary: Funnily enough, cold and prickly Nadine Ross is the one consistent spot of warmth in her life.





	you, in midnight blue

**Author's Note:**

> this was gonna be longer thats why i set this in china and what is it people say about home advantage? anyway i just wanted to post smth so here u go
> 
> while this was originally going to be a moment some years before "morning in yellows" it doesnt actually matter if youve read it or not

They’re in China somewhere. Chloe forgets the name of the rural town and she doesn’t make an effort to remember because she knows she’ll butcher it. Really, it’s out of respect. Nadine doesn’t fare much better, but they have a good enough guidebook to help them as they gesture their way through town until they’re at the bus terminal. 

It’s a six-hour ride to board another bus, then another five hours, and they’ll pass through immigration to Hong Kong. 

They’re the first on the bus, so Chloe makes a beeline for the empty back row. She dumps her duffel in the seats on the other side of the aisle.

“Window seat?” she offers, making enough space for Nadine to shuffle by if she wants to. 

Nadine smiles, teeth flashing under the cyan-ish glow lighting up the interior of the bus. “No. Go ahead.”

“If you say so,” she says with a shrug, leaning forward to give Nadine a chaste kiss, fast enough that no one notices. 

There’s no telling how tolerant people can be. Usually, Chloe would unabashedly not give a single fuck, but she has a feeling that picking a fight with homophobes on a bus won’t bode well with Nadine. 

Besides, they need to get to Hong Kong to catch a flight to Australia and she’d rather not miss it because she’s been detained for socking someone in the jaw. They're already running late anyway and she's already had to bench Ocean Park for next time; Nadine was none too happy to hear they'd be missing the panda exhibit.

Of course, Nadine notices the pout Chloe wasn't aware she was sporting and laughs lightly. She drapes her navy blue windbreaker over their laps and laces their fingers underneath it. Chloe was always fidgety on the bus. Nadine knew her all too well. 

The doors hiss and slide shut as Chloe gets comfortable. Thankfully, the bus is quiet, mostly deserted -- it’s almost ten at night and the summer tourism season has long since passed. 

In the front, a family of four whispers to each other, occasional scolding coming a little louder, and the bus creaks as it lurches forward, but otherwise, it’s mostly silent. 

Chloe leans her forehead on the window and counts the trees that eventually blur into blackness, trying to doze off. 

Oddly enough, she can’t seem to sleep even though they’d just spent the day diving about in murky waters, looking for some kind of fancy plate a local wanted for the museum. He hadn’t paid as well as he could’ve, but they’re doing pretty well lately and she reckons that can be this year’s act of kindness. At least he paid for dinner.

About half an hour into the ride, Chloe still very much awake, the first needle of water flicks onto the glass. Soon after, it’s pelting against the roof and the windows. 

Like riding in a tin can on wheels, Chloe thinks. 

Nadine presses into Chloe’s front as she leans over to look out the window. 

“Hm. It’s raining cats and dogs.” 

“Hope there isn’t any traffic,” Nadine murmurs. 

Chloe huffs, calloused thumb idly running along the bony part of Nadine’s hand. “My mum will have my head if we’re late by even an  _hour_ , I swear.” 

“Well, maybe you should visit more often,” Nadine says, entirely unsympathetic. 

Chloe sways her body along with Nadine’s movements as she pulls back to her own seat. She rests her head on Nadine’s shoulder, humming, and squints at the nails on her free hand. “You _know_ she doesn’t like what we do.”

“I know.” 

They lapse into silence. 

The tiny circular air conditioners are pointing straight at her and goosebumps poke out of her skin. Chloe makes an unhappy noise from the back of her throat and presses her cheek to Nadine's clavicle.

Sharp as ever, Nadine grabs onto her forearm and raises her eyebrows. Her palm is warm. “Cold?” 

“Eh, just a little. I’ll be fine.” Chloe fits her chin into the slope of Nadine’s shoulder. “You?”

Wordlessly, Nadine untangles their hands, shrugs Chloe off her, and zips the windbreaker up to her own chin. Chloe is left defenceless to the slightly chilled air, Nadine looking satisfied and cosy.

“Oh,” Chloe snorts. “Wow. Well, okay.”

“You make me wait two hours in a war zone, yet you can’t stand two seconds in a bus that’s only a tiny bit below the average temperature,” Nadine says, rolling her eyes as she slings an arm around Chloe’s shoulder. 

“That was over four years ago!” 

"Just admit you're a big baby."

"No," she says, petulantly. She sticks her tongue out too.

Nadine's grin is so wide, Chloe has to drop the act and beam in response. Contented, she burrows deeper into Nadine’s side and pulls her legs up onto the seat, the soles of her boots against the side of the bus. It’s not the most comfortable position, but Chloe’s finally feeling the haze of impending sleep clouding her mind. 

The lights had dimmed earlier and the pouring rain beats a steady rhythm that Chloe can easily fall asleep to. (Or maybe it’s because Nadine’s holding Chloe to her side, chasing the cold away.)

At this point, they’ve both stopped caring about their closeness. It’s too dark and too late for anyone to bat an eye at a couple of women leaning against each other in the back of a shuttle bus. 

Nadine presses her face to the top of Chloe’s head and sighs through her nose, chest rising and falling with it. 

“Tired?” Chloe asks. 

“I’ll sleep later.” 

“Want me to keep you company?” Chloe mumbles into Nadine, forcing her eyes open so she can squint at the frizzes of hair brushing against her face. Lately, Nadine’s been keeping her hair loose around her neck for warmth. 

Nadine shifts against Chloe. Her chin bumps against Chloe’s scalp before she rests her head back where it was. Then: “Just sleep if you’re tired.” 

“No, it’s fine,” Chloe says before Nadine can insist. “Tell me something about pandas. The classic black and white ones.” 

“Okay. Wild giant pandas can live up to 20 years,” Nadine starts. She’s entirely relaxed, arm draped heavily over Chloe, which prompts Chloe to melt into her. It’s a natural response by now. “55% of their lives are spent collecting and eating bamboo, so that’s approximately 11 years.” 

“Sounds like a good way to live.” 

She’s smiling, Chloe can tell by the way her cheek moves against Chloe’s head. “They can also shit up to 40 times a day. Reminds me of you, what with all the things coming out of your mouth.” 

“Oh, you’re such a sweet talker,” Chloe huffs, tilting her head up to glare at Nadine. “Give me a second and I’ll just hand you my panties.” 

Nadine’s chest rumbles pleasantly with her laugh. She’s careful not to be too loud as not to disturb the other passengers, muffling the chuckle in Chloe’s hair. 

It takes a couple minutes for them to relax again, and it’s only after Chloe laces her fingers with Nadine’s free hand that she starts talking again. “They ship baby pandas back here by FedEx.” 

She speaks slower now, lower, words weighed by a heavy tiredness that Chloe’s heard plenty of times during the past few years. 

“Their front paws are backwards, and they have 11 different panda calls,” Nadine drones on. “Their faces aren’t chubby. It’s all muscle.” 

Chloe can’t help but grin at that callback. Nadine doesn’t seem to notice. 

She’ll fall asleep soon. Chloe wagers in about three more sentences, she’ll sniff and mutter a quiet, “ _Sorry_ ,” before drifting off. 

At risk of sounding wildly cheesy, she feels a great surge of love and affection for Nadine in this moment, she’s almost afraid Nadine might physically feel it. 

Chloe had caught Nadine searching up “ _giant panda fun facts_ ” at the station earlier and had planned on asking her on the plane, but it makes no difference now. Nadine has the incredible ability to be utterly endearing in any possible setting. 

Chloe lingers in the serenity for a while longer before she finally closes her eyes and lets herself slip into unconsciousness. 

The bus drives on into the frigid rain. 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> pls comment if u spot any mistakes and also if u just.. u kno.... liked the fic 
> 
> find me on tumblr @chlodines


End file.
